Jeju Pilot Job Roles Join National Senior Employment Program; JDC to Assess Outcomes for 240 Participants

【Financial News, Jeju = Reporter Jeong Yong-bok】 As a job role piloted in Jeju has been incorporated into the regular national senior employment program, the Jeju Free International City Development Center (JDC) is assessing the program’s impact this year.
On the 4th, according to JDC and the Korea Labor Force Development Institute for the Aged, the 2026 JDC Ieum Jobs Program Results Sharing Meeting will be held at 2 p.m. on the 5th at the JDC Elite Building in the Jeju Advanced Science and Technology Complex in Jeju City.
The Ieum Jobs program connects the experience and expertise of middle-aged and older people with work needed by local communities. JDC, the Korea Labor Force Development Institute for the Aged, and the Korea Labor Foundation work together, while the Jeju Neoyeong Nayeong Senior Club, Jeju Senior Club, and Seogwipo Senior Club carry out the on-site work.
This year’s program will run for five months, from July to November. It offers roles that draw on participants’ abilities across five fields, including environmental and ecological conservation, safety and care, digital technology, internationalization, and links to private-sector employment.
One achievement of the program is that the “Sharing and Learning Support Team,” which was piloted last year, has been included this year in the Senior Competency Utilization track, a regular senior employment program run by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. It is an example of a job identified locally becoming part of a national program.
This year, a quota for selecting people with disabilities was introduced to expand participation opportunities for groups facing barriers to employment. A new open-call system was also launched, inviting implementing agencies to propose roles based on local needs. Areas include resource recycling, barrier-free tourism, and documenting Jeju culture.

The Seongsanpo Sumgyeol Traveler Center has also been set up in Seongsan-eup, Seogwipo City. It is staffed in shifts by 14 Ieum Jobs participants. The project adds tourist information, luggage storage, and a place to rest to an existing open cultural rest area, and links these services with local history and culture tours and hands-on programs.
In September, JDC was named an outstanding institution under MOHW’s Leading Model for Senior Competency Utilization and received the minister’s award for the second consecutive year.
Around 300 people, including JDC Chairman Song Seok-eon, officials from the Korea Labor Force Development Institute for the Aged and the Korea Labor Foundation, and program participants, are expected to attend the results-sharing meeting on the 5th. After awards for outstanding participants and presentations on program results and case studies, the Jeju Research Institute will present its analysis of the program’s effectiveness.
This year’s program is scheduled to run through November. The Jeju Research Institute’s analysis is expected to provide a basis for determining whether locally tailored roles can lead to sustained employment or national programs rather than remain one-off public jobs.
“JDC will play a responsible role in building an inclusive Jeju community that connects generations and social groups, and enables everyone to grow together,” Chairman Song Seok-eon said.


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